BONN TO REVIEW AMERICAN EVIDENCE ON LIBYAN PLANT

Published: January 8, 1989

(Page 2 of 2)

The Paris conference was envisaged by the United States and France as a means for mobilizing world opinion against the horror of chemical weapons and for stimulating a 40-nation forum in Geneva that is seeking to draw up a draft treaty that would ban the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Iran Condemns Iraq

''This conference is not going to be a court of justice,'' President Francois Mitterrand declared in an inaugural address. ''However, you should state unconditionally and unreservedly your condemnation of chemical arms.''

In an emotional speech to the conference, Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, forcefully condemned Iraq for using chemical weapons against 50,000 Iranians, 5,000 of whom he said died. ''Why did this conference not meet after Iranian cities fell prey to chemical weapons?'' asked Dr. Velayati.

American officials said they understood and shared France's interest in preventing the conference from degenerating into a name-calling match. By not specifically mentioning Libya, Iraq or any other nation, Mr. Shultz adhered to the French ground rules for the meeting.

Mr. Shultz's nonpolemical tone also appeared to fit into what in the last few days appears to be a subtle attempt to downplay the likelihood of a military operation against the Libyan facility. A Question of Legality

Since his arrival in Paris yesterday, Mr. Shultz and other American officials have sought to create the impression that Washington's allies and other friendly nations generally believe that Libya has built a chemical weapons plant at Rabta, 40 miles south of Tripoli. French Taken Aback

But French officials were somewhat taken aback when a senior American official, speaking anonymously, asserted that Prime Minister Michel Rocard accepted Mr. Shultz's view of the Rabta plant during a meeting yesterday. They said this was not the case.

On Thursday, President Mitterrand told journalists that he ''did not know'' if Libya had a chemical weapons capacity. The French President also noted that the production of chemical weapons was not illegal under existing international agreements.

Mr. Mitterrand, according to a spokesman, personally informed Mr. Shultz that ''a number of different means other than a direct military confrontation'' existed to resolve the problem of the Rabta plant.

So far, only Britain, Canada and the Netherlands have publicly supported the Reagan Administration's charges about the Libyan facility. But Britain, which alone among the allies backed the American air raids against Libya in 1986, has cautioned against a military strike against Rabta.

Mr. Shultz also met here Friday with Egypt's Foreign Minister, Esmat Abdel-Meguid. A senior Arab diplomat said he was convinced that the Reagan Administration did not intend to begin a military strike against the Rabta installation, but rather was seeking to choke off the Western European expertise that was needed to build it.

American officials have made clear that the pressure on West Germany is crucial to such a strategy, but the combination of diplomatic moves and American news reporting and commentary on the Imhausen case has stirred deep bitterness in Bonn. Chancellor Helmut Kohl's spokesman has complained of an anti-German ''campaign in the U.S. media.''

''Both Germans and Americans have the feeling that there is a lack of trust,'' complained one senior German official today. ''And that is the stupidest thing.'' FRENCH JET-SALE PLAN REPORTED

LONDON, Sunday, Jan. 8 (AP) -France is negotiating to sell jet fighters to Libya, a senior United States official was quoted as saying in a report published today.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that the senior official, who was not named, said information about a deal to sell French-built Mirage jet fighters to Libya was compiled with the help of European intelligence agencies.

The report did not say how many jets were under negotiation. Lieut. Cmdr. James Kudla, a Defense Department spokesman, said he had not seen the report and could not comment on it.

Photo of Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the West German Foreign Minister, and Secretary of State George P. Shultz in Paris as an international conference on chemical warfare opened. (NYT/Bart Bartholomew) (pg. 14)